Acai Juice

[mammo]

Does anyone know if this lives up to the hype?  I've seen some that contain a mixture of juices, can anyone recommend what would be best if anything?  Thanks

[mammo]

Thanks!

[Paxiled]

The real thing is found in good health food stores, and is just acai berries or acai juice, preferably organically grown.  If it's bought from people doing direct marketing, caveat emptor.

[mammo]

I heard it is a great anti-oxidant, but don't know what's the real thing and what isn't. Thanks for the info!

[Paxiled]

My understanding is that pure acai -- meaning not the often bogus products mentioned by repirate above -- is that it's a berry, and like all berries contains a high quantity of antioxidants.  Like blueberry or raspberry or other berries.  Anything else is as yet unproven.  This is like noni juice -- someone discovers a food used by someone far away and claims it cures everything, but solid research is hard to come by because of a lack of money for research on foods.  The best bet is to see how it was used traditionally by the people where it grows, and both noni and acai are used as what are called tonics, or basically just stuff that's very good for you and high in nutrients and therefore good for the immune system.

[respirate]

Acai fruit and juice are generally considered to be safe as foods but safety studies have not been conducted with them or with acai supplements. Interactions of acai with other foods, drugs, or supplements have also not been well studied.
some acai products are marketed with false claims regarding their health benefits and/or false celebrity endorsements.  Some are sold using unethical billing practices.  Also be cautious with products that include laxative ingredients.

References:
Del Pozo-Insfran D, Brenes CH, Talcott ST. Phytochemical composition and pigment stability of Acai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.). J Agric Food Chem 2004;52:1539-45.

Del-Pozo-Inzfran D, Percival SS, Talcott ST. Acai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) polyphenolics in their glycoside and aglycone forms induce apoptosis of HL-60 leukemia cells. J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Feb 22;54(4):1222-9.

Mertens-Talcott SU, Rios J, Jilma-Stohlawetz P, et al. Pharmacokinetics of anthocyanins and antioxidant effects after the consumption of anthocyanin-rich açaí juice and pulp (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) in human healthy volunteers. J Agric Food Chem. Sep 10, 2008;56(17): 7796-7802.

Schauss AG, Wu X, Prior RL, et al. Phytochemical and nutrient composition of the freeze-dried Amazonian palm berry, Euterpe oleraceae mart. (acai). J Agric Food Chem 2006;54:8598-603

Schauss AG, Wu X, Prior RL, et al. Antioxidant capacity and other bioactivities of the freeze-dried Amazonian palm berry, Euterpe oleraceae mart. (acai). J Agric Food Chem 2006;54:8604-10